Hardships
by snowy desert
Summary: "How about we start our own Clan?" Rainclaw paused to think. He nodded. That idea sounded just fine.
1. Chapter 1

"Murderer!"

"You did this!"

"This is all your fault!"

"Shame on you!"

Rainclaw lowered his head and hissed to himself as the insults rained down. Ravenstar, sitting neatly on top of the Clanrock, looked down at Rainclaw in disgust.

"Rainclaw, from this moment on, you will be exiled from ShadowClan for murdering Sunnystep. We hope we will never see you near the lake again."

_This is all so mouse-brained. _Rainclaw thought. _This Clan's logic is just messed up. See a cat next to a body? Assume he's the murder and kick him out for life._

"Rainclaw…" A voice murmured, and Rainclaw looked up to see his best and only friend, Petalbright, staring sadly at him.

The threatening yowls of Rainclaw's former clanmates seemed to be drowned out by Petalbright's next words.

"I'm coming with you."

The Clan fell silent for a moment, then exploded into hissing and snarling. Both Petalbright and Rainclaw had to dodge the flying attacks that were thrown at them.

The deputy, Yarrowtail, marched forward. He hissed at the duo. "If you are ever seen on our territory or near the lake ever again, the Clans have the right to kill both of you. Begone."

Rainclaw, saying nothing, whipped around and stalked out of the camp, Petalbright trudging uneasily behind him.

As soon as they were out of the camp, they bolted to the border and across it, the threats and enraged yowls still ringing in their ears.

Rainclaw looked at Petalbright, guilt on his face. "You didn't have to."

Petalbright frowned. "What's the point of becoming the best friend of someone if you're just going to ditch them when they get exiled?" She asked.

Rainclaw just sighed. They were silent for a moment, and suddenly Rainclaw's pelt prickled in fear. "Petalbright, do you think I murdered Sunnystep?"

"Of course not. Why would I be here if I think you killed her?"

Silence followed these words. Petalbright squinted up at the sky, and after a long moment, she said, "We need to find a place to sleep."

Rainclaw looked over his shoulder at the ShadowClan border. "It'll have to be far from here. If the Clans find out we're sleeping right at the border, they'll have a fit."

"Right." Petalbright said, then proceeded to turn and walk away. Blinking, Rainclaw trotted after her.

After seemingly ages of walking, Petalbright stopped abruptly. Rainclaw crashed into her and stumbled backwards, but she amazingly didn't seem to notice.

"It's beautiful." She said.

Rainclaw steadied himself and padded to her side. "What is?"

Petalbright nodded to a clearing in front of her. Rainclaw's gaze drifted to the clearing, and he let out a small gasp.

The clearing was small, with bushes, brambles, and wild flowers decorating the edges. a shallow stream ran down the middle, hardly making a sound. Colorful pebbles were scattered around near the stream, shining brightly in the setting sun's light.

Petalbright padded into the clearing and cleared the stream in a single leap. She nodded to a shaded path of grass. "We can make some nests here."

Rainclaw leapt over the stream and landed next to her. He nodded. "Yeah, it looks good."

Petalbright began scraping together some nests, using moss, cobwebs, and a few fallen feathers, while Rainclaw walked along the edge of the clearing, reinforcing the natural 'walls' so they wouldn't get any unwelcome visitors in the night.

By the time Rainclaw had finished weaving the last bit of bracken into the wall, Petalbright took a step back and called out; "The nests are ready."

"Aight." Rainclaw called back, and made his way to the corner where Petalbright had laid their nests out. He flopped onto his nest and closed his eyes, tired form all the walking he had done. Petalbright laid in her own nest, and soon enough he could hear her soft sores as she slept. But he was still there, laying awake with his eyes closed, haunted by the events of the day.

And when fe finally feel asleep, he was still haunted by the screams, the threats, and the bloody images.

—

"_Three mice, a thrush, and a few voles. You have to stop pushing yourself, Rainclaw. You could have been sleeping ,and instead you were out hunting prey while they slept in their burrows. Do you know how creepy that is? And unhealthy?"_

_Rainclaw was as silent as a rock as Bloomtail babbled on. He wasn't paying much attention to what the senior warrior was saying, and instead was staring at the nursery. Sunnystep had her kits a moon ago, and Rainclaw still hand't seen them._

_After a moment, Bloomtail just sighed, shook his head slowly, and shoved Rainclaw's catches into the fresh-kill pile. :You could have at least caught a toad near the lake." He mumbled. "Some cats are dying for a toad or two."_

_Rainclaw nodded, got to his paws, and padded to the nursery. He thrust himself into the den, and was met with the sound of kits mewling._

_Rainclaw chuckled. "Sunnystep, have you been feeding those kits?" He said, and blinked at her. She stared down at her kits, which were nestled at her side, and said nothing. He frowned. "Are you alright? Do you need water? Prey?"_

_Only when Sunnystep continued to stay silent did he get the urge to look into her eyes._

_The gray coldness of her eyes instantly scared him, and Rainclaw felt like he was on the verge of screaming._

_Sunnystep was dead._

_The kits' cries grew louder, but Rainclaw was too shocked to hear their cries. His eyes drifted to Sunnystep's side. No injuries there. He looked at her neck, and cringed. A bite decorated the back of her neck, dry blood lining the outside. She had been dead for a while; her body had become so stiff that there killer had put her in the position she was in to make her look alive._

_Rainclaw couldn't take it. StarClan forgive a cat for being so sickened, but he turned and threw up._

_Rainclaw? Are you alright? I heard you retching…" The medicine cat, Aloewish, poked her head in, holding a bundle of herbs that Rainclaw guessed was borage in her jaws. She flinched as he heard the kits. "Is something wrong? Why are the kits crying? Sunnystep, are you out of milk?"_

_It took a longer amount of time for Aloewish to figure out she was dead._

"_She's dead!" Aloewish screeched, dropping the borage bundle. She turned furiously to Rainclaw. "You killed her! You traitor! She had kits! How could you be so heartless?"_

"_I didn't kill her!" Rainclaw cried, but Aloewish didn't seem to hear. She pounced on him and pinned him down rather easily, and bared her teeth at him. "Murderers don't deserve to live." She hissed._

_Rainclaw couldn't believe it. The medicine cat had turned from furious to murderous in heartbeats._

_Warriors began spilling into the nursery, obviously coming at the sound of Aloewish's screams and yowls._

_It didn't take very long for them to realize what was happening, and soon enough Rainclaw was being dragged out. He kicked and screamed, and everything blurred. They tossed him to the side, leaving a few cats to guard him as the chaos went on._

_Soon enough, the Clan's fury led them to come up with one 'rational' solution; exile Rainclaw._

—

After that surreal memory, came a nightmare.

Rainclaw woke up in a sweat, and thankfully in reality. He went limp in his nest, trying hard to remember his nightmare. But, no matter how hard he tried, his nightmare had been lost, pushed into the back of his mind. All Rainclaw remembered was that it seemed to be a twisted version of the vents of the day prior.

"Wake up." Petalbright nudged Rainclaw in the side, and he sat up, blinking. "I'm up." He grumbled.

Petalbright blinked softly at him with wide yees. "Did you have nightmares?"

Rainclaw hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you miss the Clan? The Clans in general?"

"Yes."

"What about Clan life? The code? Working together with others?"

"Yes?" Rainclaw was confused by Petalbright's questions.

"How about we start out own Clan?"

Rainclaw paused to think. He nodded. That idea sounded just fine.


	2. Chapter 2

Rainclaw gazed form his nest as Petalbright stacked rocks at one of the sides of camp, hoping she would end up making some sort of Clanrock. Sighing, Rainclaw rose to his paws and trotted over to her. "Here, let me help."

Petalbright plainly refused. "You're going to be the leader, so you should get a day of rest. Y'know, to sit and think about all the stuff you're gonna do."

"Petalbright, there's no cats here other than you and me, and we don't even have a name for our Clan. Do you think we can even do this? We've hardly even set paw out of this camp of ours." Rainclaw muttered.

Petalbright looked up from her work, stared at him for several heartbeats, then said, "Well, then step one, explore our territory. Step two, come up with a name. Step three, get cats to join. It's pretty simple."

"Starting a Clan is not simple," Petalbright." Rainclaw growled. "We don't even know if StarClan has followed us!"

Petalbright simply waved a paw at the darkening sky and returned to stacking rocks.

Rainclaw looked up, his ears flattened against his head, and frowned. A few stars were now visible in the sky. _They're probably Petalbright's family or something. _Rainclaw thought bitterly.

Petalbright suddenly stepped back and scanned the pile of rocks she had created. Rainclaw took one look at it and saw how big she had made the platform, and realized that it must've taken the entire day to make that.

"Alright, so, I need moss and other things to patch it all together. But that's out there, in the forest. So, my point is, while I'm getting the stuff, you can look around the territory and make some borders and what not!" Petalbright turned to Rainclaw in a single step, a smile plastered on her face.

Rainclaw flinched. Petalbright's enthusiasm scared him, as if she had been planning this all along.

He shrugged. "I guess." Rainclaw turned and scanned the wall of the camp, trying to remember where he had made the entrance. Soon, he located the entrance, and the duo made their way out of the camp into the wilderness.

The forest around them had oak trees and maple trees, and the occasional birch and spruce, but there were none of the pine trees Petalbright and Rainclaw were used to. But, neither of them could complain, as they were happy with what they had.

Soon, the sky turned form the dark purple color of dusk to the pitch black of night, and Rainclaw had to hurriedly make his eyes adjust to the darkness so he and Petalbright could hurry on.

During their ascent, Rainclaw found any spots where herbs that he couldn't identify, and a few plants Rainclaw hadn't seen in the ShadowClan medicine cats' den. Rainclaw's heart sunk as he realized the the chance of finding a rogue or loner that knew herbs would be very low, and the Clan could be without a medicine cat for days, even moons, if the Clan even started.

"Alright, I have everything I need." Petalbright announced. Rainclaw turned and saw she was carrying countless bundles of moss and cobwebs, but her eyes were bright, as if she were proud she had collected this much moss. "Do you want to head back?" She asked, her voice muffled by the bundles.

Rainclaw nodded. The trek had weakened him, and he felt exhausted, almost as exhausted as he was during their walk away from the Clans.

As they made their way back, Petalbright began talking almost absentmindedly, and Rainclaw could only catch a few sentences. One of these sentences was, "Hey, how are you going to get your lives?"

Rainclaw froze. At the lake, leaders would go to the Moonpool to get their extra eight lives from StarClan, and Rainclaw had heard that in the old territories, leaders went to a glowing stone called Moonstone. They hadn't found any sacred places like that yet.

"Maybe they'll come to me in a dream," Rainclaw said, half to himself, as they padded not their camp. "That's how it worked anyways. All the leaders did was touch the Moonpool, and then they fell asleep, and it was sleep that made them dream about StarClan."

Petalbright didn't respond, and she just went over to the pile of rocks she had made and began stuffing the moss and cobwebs into the cracks, hoping they would hold together.

Tired, Rainclaw trudged over to his nest, and as soon as he was about to throw himself onto it, he noticed a paint of yellow eyes staring up at him.

Rainclaw shouted in surprise and scrambled backward, his fur fluffed up in defense mode. The yellow eyes shrank back, wide with fear.

"I'm sorry!" A voice squeaked. "I thought this place didn't have anyone living here!"

Petalbright hurried over and looked down at the yellow eyes. She purred. "Oh, it's just a kit." She said to Rainclaw, who immediately calmed down. She turned to the kit. "Are you lost, little one? Where's your family?"

The kit was silent for a moment, and this time allowed Rainclaw to let his eyes adjust to the darkness yet again, and see that the kit had short, blue-gray fur. Rainclaw blinked in surprise. He wasn't even sure if blue-gray cats could have yellow eyes.

"I have a family. I have a mom and a dad and three sisters, but they're back at home… Are you going to hurt me? Are you going to hurt them?" The kit shrank back even more, pressing against the thorn wall, yet his fear seemed to override his pain, as the kit didn't seem affected by the thorns.

"We won't hurt you, or your family." Rainclaw said hurriedly. "We can take you back to them, if you remember the way back to them."

"Can I stay here?" The kit asked, stepping out of Rainclaw's nest. He looked up and saw the confusion in Rainclaw and Petalbright's eyes, and added, "Just for the night, I mean."

"Of course you can stay here!" Petalbright said before Rainclaw could respond. "I have spare moss that I can use to make you a nest."

The kit's eyes widened even more, until they were practically the size of half his head. "Really? A nest? We didn't have nice moss nests where I live. The old No-fur den only had ragged cloths for us to sleep on!"

"No-fur? Is that another name for a Twoleg?" Rainclaw asked, and the kit turned to him, and responded with, "What?"

"They're big, and like their name suggests, they walk on two legs, and they only have fur on their heads." Looking at his paws, Rainclaw quickly murmured the explanation, hoping he was loud enough for the kit to hear.

"Oh, yeah! That's what it is! We call them No-furs because they don't have any fur, except the fur on their head, like you said." The kit paused, then said, "My name's Guardian, by the way. Um, what's yours?"

"My name is Rainclaw, and the tortoiseshell is Petalbright." Rainclaw looked over at Petalbright, who was busy making Guardian's moss nest. She lifted her head to give Guardian a small smile.

Rainclaw wanted to comment on how strange Guardian's name sounded to him, but he realized how rude it sounded, and noticed that the kit was probably thinking that Rainclaw's name was pretty strange too, so he kept silent.

Guardian bounded over to Petalbright and peered at the nest she was making. "Could you make some for my family, too?" He questioned. "After they meet you guys, they might want to come here!"

Petalbright gave Rainclaw a silent grin, and he grimaced at her. He knew exactly what she was thinking.

"You know," she said, "we're starting out own group, called a Clan. We don't have a name for it yet, but there's only two of his here, so it isn't really a Clan yet. Maybe you and your family could join our group!"

Rainclaw let out a frustrated sigh, but this was not acknowledged by Guardian or Petalbright. Before Petalbright could say anymore, he thrust himself in-between them and asked Guardian, "How did you get out here, anyways?"

"My mom asked me to go find herbs for one of my sisters, because she had a cut on her paw that was going to get infected. But I went too far and got lost, and now I'm here." Guardian chirped, sounding as if he were happy to be away from them, but Rainclaw knew that he was just happy that he had met nice cats.

_I'm too suspicious of everyone. _Rainclaw thought to himself, and glanced around. Petalbright announced, "Done!", and Guardian leapt into his nest, landing in it with a soft _thump_.

"I'll see you in the morning!" Guardian squeaked as Petalbright and Rainclaw settled into their own nests. Soon, enough, he had fallen asleep, and Petalbright turned to Rainclaw with a scowl.

"Why are you so against making your own Clan?" She hissed, her eyes narrowed in mild suspicion. Rainclaw's fur bristled. "I don't think I'm good enough to be leader, alright? I hardly even understand why borders are a thing, and you think I can create a Clan from nothing and lead it to greatness!" He said in an annoyed undertone.

Petalbright narrowed her eyes even more and let out a low hiss, and flopped onto her side, her back to Rainclaw, rudely ending their conversation.

Rainclaw scoffed and rested his head on his paws, slowly slipping into a dreamless sleep.

—

Guardian was moving so fast, you could have mistaken him for some giant, lightning-fast lizard.

At least, that's what he looked like to Rainclaw.

Rainclaw groggily blinked, stretched, picked himself off of the ground, and stretched again. His gaze turned to Petalbright, who was eating a vole. She nodded to him and said, "Come here, I got a squirrel for you."

Rainclaw padded over to Petalbright, his limbs still a bit stiff form staying in the same position all night. He stretched again and settled down next to Petalbright. Guardian bounced over, his eyes wide with excitement.

"My sisters will like you," he announced, "and my mom will like you! But i dunno about my dad. He's always out doing something, so I don't know what kind of cats he likes. But I think he'll like you!" With that, Guardian bounded off again.

Rainclaw frowned as Guardian left. "How are we going to even find where his family lives?"

"We could follow the scent trail he left behind, I guess. And, he said that his family lived in an old abandoned Twoleg nest at the side of hill." Petalbright shrugged, falling quiet for a moment, then said, "He said that there was a gray, dusty path that goes into this forest. So if we find a gravel path, we can just follow it to where he lives."

"That sounds okay." Rainclaw poked at the squirrel, not feeling very hungry. He made a face and shoved it away. "Let's just bring Guardian back to his family and get this over with." He said, getting to his paws.

"Not only are we bringing a kit back, we're also making our Clan bigger!" Petalbright said in a sing-song tone, leaping up. Rainclaw scowled at her. _We just came up with the idea of a Clan a day ago._

Within heartbeats, Petalbright and Guardian had left the camp, leaving Rainclaw to trudge after them. With a flick of his ears, Rainclaw darted after them. "I thought _I_ was the leader." He muttered.

Rainclaw caught up to Petalbright and Guardian, and pushed his way to the front. "Hey, you said I'm the leader, so I might as well do the things leaders do, huh?" He said to Petalbright, then turned and tasted the air. There a faint scent trail, and Rainclaw easily identified it as Guardian's and followed it.

Petalbright and Guardian were silent, much to Rainclaw's relief. He was already sick of their babbling, and was happy to enjoy a moment of silence.

The journey continued for what seemed like forever, and as soon as the sun had reached the top of the sky and was beginning to take its ascent down, the came across an old Twoleg shack, which, indeed, had a gravel path leading away from it.

Muffled voices came from inside the shack, and Rainclaw looked over his shoulder at Guardian. "You should go first."

Guardian nodded, and rushed into the shack. The muffled voice grew louder, and eventually stopped. Rainclaw's ear twitched as he waited for Guardian to come out.

Guardian bounded out of the shack, a small she-cat and three kits following him. The she-cat had thick, creamy brown tabby fur and a white muzzle, chest, and belly. Two of the kits almost looked exactly like her, except one had shorter fur. The third kit was white with creamy brown tabby patches, and short fur.

The she-cat squinted at Rainclaw and Petalbright for a long moment, then said, "You're the cats who saved my son?"

"We didn't exactly save him." Rainclaw looked at his paws bashfully. "He just wandered into our camp and we let him stay for a night."

"No, that's not what I meant. You saved him mentally." The she-cat gazed softly at Guardian for a moment, then smiled at Rainclaw and Petalbright. "He's been so sad ever since his father left us a few days ago."

Rainclaw blinked in surprise and averted his gaze to Guardian. The kit _had_ told him that his father was distant, but he didn't mention that he had left them. Rainclaw assumed this was only a kit's misunderstanding, and looked back at the she-cat with a shrug.

"That's so sad," was all Petalbright said. "So terribly sad."

The she-cat nodded to the she-kits seated at her paws. "This is Atlanta." She said, giving the kit that looks like an exact replica of her a fierce lick on the head. "This Freida." She patted the one with shorter fur on the head, who responded with a small purr. "And the final one is Tea." The white and creamy brown tabby she-kit waved her stubby tail at Rainclaw and Petalbright in greeting.

As Guardian wandered over to sit next to his sisters, the she-cat said, "My name is Sweet, by the way. Would you mind telling me yours?" She paused. "I don't mean to seem rude."

"No, it's fine." Rainclaw said. "My name is Rainclaw. It's nice to meet you."

"Petalbright." Petalbright mumbled bitterly. Rainclaw shot her a glare.

"Its nice to meet you, too. Here, come on in, I can catch you a mouse." Sweet turned and padded into the shack, her kits trailing after her. Rainclaw padded in after her, while Petalbright stayed outside. Rainclaw scowled at her sudden bitterness towards Sweet, but quickly erased the look and sat down on the dirt floor of the shack.

Sweet tossed a scrawny mouse at Rainclaw's paws, and he eyed it. Deciding not to be ill-mannered, he bent down and began eating it as Sweet talked.

"They have two brothers, from another litter," Sweet gestured towards her kits, "but they went off with their father when he left."

"Why'd he leave?" Rainclaw tilted his head like a confused dog, silently hoping he wasn't being too curious.

"Oh, I don't know. He started leaving the shack more and more often after I had Guardian and his sisters. Then one night, he just left all together. y best guess is that he left to be with some other she-cat." Sweet flicked her ears, not seeming in the least to have any hatred towards her former mate.

Rainclaw finished the mouse and sat up, giving his jaws a quick lick. "Has Guardian told you about our Clan?" He asked, wincing as he spoke the sentence. He thought he sounded like Petalbright.

"Oh, yes, he told me a little bit." Sweet replied, gazing down at Guardian. Guardian nodded. "Yeah, I told her what you told me, that it was a group and what not."

"Well, he's right." Rainclaw said. "You see, there used to be other Clans than just us- I mean, they're still here, existing, but just really far away. But I got exiled form the Clan I was in, and Petalbright came along." Rainclaw felt mildly uncomfortable telling the she-cat his history, but she had told him hers, so he assumed he should do the same.

"So we decided to make a camp and make our own Can. The problem is, Clans need more than two cats in them." Rainclaw met Sweet's eyes, and she just nodded understandingly. "You need more cats to join?" She uttered in a low tone. She was soundless for a heartbeat, staring at her kits, then she nodded "I'm sure it'll be the best for all of us if we join your Clan."

Sweet got to her paws, kicking away the ragged cloth she had been laying on. Her kits also sprang to her paws, giggling and chattering, as if they knew what was coming. "We could start heading there, now, if you'd like." Sweet offered. "Or you can stay here."

"We can start heading back." Rainclaw said, then turned and leapt out of the shack. He gave the area a quick glance around, and immediately noticed Petalbright was missing. He tasted the air and caught her scent and where it was headed; towards the camp. He guessed she had gotten bored of standing outside and went back to the camp.

"Does, uh, do you think your mate is going to come looking for you?" Rainclaw glanced at Sweet as they began to walk in the direction of camp. Sweet paused to think for a moment, then shrugged. "I don't believe so, but if he does ever come back, he'll find us somehow. He was always the bets at navigating."

Sweet quietly sighed through her nose and pretended to be interested in the trees they walked past.

They walked on noiselessly until they reached the camp. Rainclaw gave Sweet a swift nod and slipped into the camp.

In the centre of the camp, Petalbright was arranging a fresh-kill pile she had seemed to have made herself, next to the shallow stream. She looked up as Sweet and her kits entered, then arrowed her eye and looked down, continuing to sort the prey.

"It's not much." Rainclaw said, looking around the small camp. "There's only nests for Petalbright and me; I was thinking about hollowing out a few bushes to make dens."

"I think it's beautiful." Sweet's eyes widened at the camp. Her tail bushed her kits, ushering them to go run off, and they listened. Atlanta shouted, "I'm gonna collect the prettiest pebbles!", and ran off towards the stream, her sisters and brother running after her.

"Does your Clan happen to have ranks at all?" Sweet averted her gaze to Rainclaw. "I've seen a few groups that had ranks."

"Yes, Clans have ranks." Rainclaw responded. "There's the leader, who leads the Clan, and the second-in-command, known as the deputy. The deputy makes patrols and replaces the leader when they die. There's also a medicine cat, who learn herbs to heal cats, and speak to our ancestors, known as StarClan…"

The sun sank beneath the horizon as the two talked.

—

**Lovefur - Thank you.**


	3. Chapter 3

Rainclaw padded into the camp, carrying a large toad in his jaws. He set it down on the pile Petalbright had created, and looked up to see Petalbright and Sweet working silently to hollow out one of the bushes on the edge of the camp.

He leaped over the stream and brushed past a patch of wildflowers to reach the duo. Sweet, in the middle of tearing a few twigs out of the bush, didn't hesitate to turn to Rainclaw with a smile.

"Hello, Rainclaw. Guardian, Freida, and Tea have decided they want to change their names to Clan names, but they weren't sure you would approve." Sweet meowed.

"Change their names to Clan names?" Rainclaw echoed. He glanced over at the kits, who were all staring at him form behind some tall grass. Atlanta was in a nearby wild flower patch, chasing after a bee.

"Yes. Petalbright was kind enough to tell us about the Clan names and how they change with the ranks. It's rather interesting." Sweet's eyes were bright. "She also told us about how the leader makes the naming ceremonies, and you're the leader correct?"

"I guess I'm leader." Rainclaw mumbled. "I need to get eight extra lives form StarClan to officially be a leader, but I guess I'm leader for now."

A screech of triumph came form the kits. Guardian, Freida, and Tea came barreling form their hiding place, crashing into Rainclaw and making him fall backwards.

"I want to be named after a flower!" Tea shouted in Rainclaw's ear, causing him to flinch. Meanwhile, Freida was bouncing around him, saying how she wanted to be named after something pretty, while Guardian was quiet, but looking excited nonetheless.

Sweet gently piked her kits up off of Rainclaw allowing him to get back up. "Alright, I'll uh, I'll start a ceremony."

Rainclaw padded hesitantly to the Clanrock and put a paw on it, testing its stability. He was amazed by how well Petalbright had made the Clanrock, even if it was just made out of stones and moss.

Rainclaw leapt onto the Clanrock and looked down as Petalbright broke from her work and padded over, Sweet and her kits following her.

Rainclaw had honestly never felt this much power before, feeling as if he could fly up StarClan with a single leap. He looked down at the kits, and tried to remember the words to this kind of ceremony.

"Freida, step forward." Rainclaw beckoned the she-kit forward, and she bounded forward, her eyes bright. "You have decided you would like to take on a new name, and I am fulfilling your wish. From now until you become a 'paw, you will be known as Ivykit."

Ivykit let out a squeal of delight and ran over to her mother, who quietly congratulated her as Tea stepped forward, her head and little stubby tail held high.

"Tea, from now on until you become a 'paw, you will be known as…" Rainclaw paused for a moment, trying to come up with the right name. "You will be known as Lilykit."

Last came Guardian. Rainclaw took a while to come up with a name for Guardian, as he wanted to give Guardian a name that captured his personality in one word. After a moment of thinking, Rainclaw nodded to himself, and called for Guardian to step forward.

"Guardian, like your sisters, you have decided to change your name to fit in with the Clan lifestyle. From now on until you become a 'paw, you will be known as Bravekit." With those words, Bravekit puffed out his chest, proud to have gotten a name like his.

Rainclaw knew that Bravekit hadn't been exactly brave when they had first met him, but Rainclaw knew that one day Bravekit would grow up to be the bravest warrior of them all.

Rainclaw leapt down, suddenly feeling refreshed. _Maybe being leader won't be so bad after all. _He thought.

Atlanta wandered away from the wildflower patch and walked up to Rainclaw. "I heard you and mama talking about the rank and what not." She mewed. "And I heard about the medicine cats. Do they really use all sorts of magical herbs and talk to ghosts?"

"You're interested in becoming a medicine cat?" Rainclaw blinked. Atlanta shrugged. "I guess. I don't want to fight like warriors, and I think being bale to heal almost everything with a few seeds, leaves, or petals is cool."

"Well, yes, they do talk to StarClan, our ancestors, and sometimes they get messages form StarClan that can speak off impending doom or good seasons to come." Rainclaw looked up at the few stars that dotted the sky. "The stares up there are StarClan. Every star is a warrior, medicine cat, or even leader that died protecting their Clan. We call the group of stars Silverpelt."

"Silverpelt." Atlanta repeated, looking up at the stars in awe. She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I want to become a medicine cat! But, didn't you say that medicine cats need mentors to train them?"

"I know a few simple herbs," Rainclaw said, "from when I got stuck in the medicine cats' den with a broken paw! But that's another story… Anyways, I can teach you the herbs I do know, I guess. When you're an apprentice, I mean."

"Yay!" Atlanta turned to leave, but Rainclaw rested his tail on her shoulder to stop her.

"Why didn't you change your name, like your brother and sisters?" He blinked down at her, and Atlanta just stared up into his eyes. "I like my name." She said. "Mama said she named me after the place she was born. It was a really big No-fur Place, with tons of really tall dens!"

"Interesting." Murmured Rainclaw. He nodded to Atlanta; a way of saying she could leave. Atlanta bounded to her newly-named siblings and meowed something to them.

Rainclaw sat down and began grooming himself, feeling as calm as ever, but thrilled at the same time. Soon enough, he would be training an apprentice to follow the medicine cats' path, and maybe even one to follow the path of a warrior.

_There's a lot you can learn by staying in the medicine cats' den for a moon. _Rainclaw closed his eyes, recalling the memories. _If I didn't know better, I would have thought that Heatherpoppy was trying to make me a medicine cat!_

Rainclaw easily remembered the old medicine cat, who had been Aloewish's mentor, but had died of old age two moons before Sunnystep's murder. _If Heatherpoppy had still been alive, she would have talked the Clan into some sense, and made sure I didn't get exiled on the spot._

Suddenly, a faint rustling noise came form the entrance of the camp, followed by pawsteps. Rainclaw's ears perked, and he easily found hat the pawsteps belonged to three separate cats. Bloodthirsty rogues? Friendly loners looking to join? Or maybe a few lost kittypets?

Rainclaw passed in his grooming and twisted his head around to look at the camp entrance. He saw a flash of blue-gray fur, and hastily glanced over at where Bravekit had been. Yep, he was still there. But that blue-gray fur had been the exact same shade Bravekit had.

Rainclaw opened his mouth to yowl out a warning, then three cats slunk through the entrance and into the camp. Rainclaw leapt to his paws, ready to attack if the trio showed any signs of aggression.

The leader was large tom that looked exactly like Bravekit, and behind him was another tom, younger than the larger tom, with the same blue-gray fur, but with Sweet's soft blue eyes. The third cat, a tom the exact same age as the second cat, looked identical to Sweet, and this confirmed Rainclaw's theory.

These cats were, in fact, Sweet's former mate, and her kits from an earlier litter.

Sweet stood in front of her kits, hissing defensively at her former mate. Petalbright leaped to her side, fluffing up her fur and staring coldly at the tom with narrowed her eyes. The tom didn't respond, he simply stared at Sweet with pure hatred burning in his eyes.

"I've come for the kits." The tom growled, looking behind Sweet and at the kits. Sweet shook her head furiously. "You're not taking them, Ragged." She snarled.

Ragged bared his teeth. "I need to have kits that are stringer than either of us ever was." He said. "Rainer and Aspen are too soft and weak to ever grow strong enough. I'm hoping that one of these four will be able to succeed me."

Rainclaw stalked forward, thrusting his muzzle into Ragged's face. "You will not be taking these kits." He snarled. Ragged turned his eyes to Rainclaw momentarily, then looked back at Sweet and said, "I see you've found yourself another tom."

Rainclaw had nothing to say to this and began backing away, but thankfully Petalbright stepped forward. "Rainclaw is not Sweet's mate. Sweet is older than him." She narrowed her eyes at Ragged. "And if you don't leave now, I'll personally tear your pelt off and stuff it down your throat."

Sweet glanced over at Rainclaw. "Is she always like this?" She asked. Rainclaw looked at his paws. "She's a bit too aggressive towards cats she doesn't like. I always thought the cause was her mood swings." He looked up at Petalbright.

Petalbright had taken another threatening step towards Ragged, her face a mouse-tail's length form his. _Sure, sometimes her mood swings can be a little scary, but she'll protect anyone if they deserve it. _Rainclaw thought. _I must be lucky to have a friend like her…_

Ragged stood completely still for a moment, then turned and leapt at Sweet. Sweet let out a yowl of surprise and Ragged knocked her over, leaving her face-down in the stream. Quick as a hare, Ragged grabbed ahold of Ivykit and bounded out of the camp. Petalbright yowled out in rage and barreled after Ragged, into the forest.

Rainclaw was rooted to the spot. _That happened too quickly. _He spun around to look at the kits and Sweet. Sweet had gotten to her paws, but now her face was covered in both water and tears.

Turning around to go after Ragged and Petalbright, Rainclaw accidentally slammed into the other toms, knocking the mover. Rainclaw fell backwards, and one of toms sprang to his paws, going forward to help Rainclaw up.

Rainclaw stood up by himself, and glared coldly at the toms. "Who's side are you on?" He hissed.

"What?" The blue-gray tom blinked.

"Who's side are you on?" Rainclaw repeated. The two toms looked at each other, then on answered, "Yours. We're sick of following our father's every step."

"Good." Was all Rainclaw said, then he sped off into the forest in search of Ragged and Ivykit.

Ivykit's frighted mews filled the forest, seeming to come form every single at the same time. Rainclaw sun in circles for a moment, then ran in a random direction, hoping it was the way Ragged had gone. He was too frantic to bother looking for a scent trail.

"Ivykit? Ivykit, where are you?" Rainclaw sun around again. 'Ivykit"!

Fur brushed Rainclaw, and Rainclaw turned to see Petalbright looking sadly at him. "I couldn't catch up to him." She meowed. "That piece of fox-dung got away."

Rainclaw stared back at Petalbright in pure disbelief.

Petalbright lowered her head and slowly turned around. "Come on, let's go." She meowed, and bounded not the forest without another word, leaving Rainclaw to run after her.

—

**Shorter than the last chapter, but oh well.**


	4. Chapter 4

"Rainer, Aspen," Rainclaw looked down at the two toms, his voice drained of any energy he had. "You have both decided to join our Clan. Do you wish to change your names?"

Aspen nodded fiercely. "Our current names were given by our father. We don't want to be reminders of that terrible cat, and we want to start a new life. A new name would be a good starter." Rainer paused for a moment, then nodded as well.

"Very well… Aspen, from now on, you will be known as Birchheart. Rainer, from now on, you will be known as Featherfire."

Bravekit and Petalbright were the only ones who cheered. Sweet, Lilykit, and Atlanta were still grieving the loss of Ivykit; even if Ivykit wasn't truly dead, they had pretty much lost her for the rest of their lives.

With a sigh, Rainclaw climbed off of the Clanrock and went to his den, which was tucked behind the Clanrock.

Mind whirling with dark memories and fearful thoughts, Rainclaw shook his head to himself and laid down, letting himself drift into sleep.

—

_Rainclaw awoke in a star-littered forest, identical to the one the camp was in._

"_What in StarClan?" Rainclaw blurted out in surprise, looking around. A gray tabby she-cat was sitting nearby, and she turned to him._

"_Rainclaw." She purred._

_Rainclaw blinked. "Stonewish?" He padded to his mother's side and smiled at her, eyes wide._

_Stonewish nodded. "It's good to see you, my son." She said. "I've always wanted you to be leader, but not like this." She turned away, staring up at something in the sky._

_Rainclaw blinked. "Not like this?" He murmured. "Am I getting my lives?"_

_Stonewish turned back, a worried expression on her face. "No, not yet. You'll need a scared place for that ceremony to occur." She meowed._

_Looking up at where Stonewish was looking, Rainclaw didn't respond, allowing Stonewish to continue. "Listen," Stonewish sighed, "your loyalty will be tested in the future, Rainclaw. You may have to figure out who you trust more; friends, or your Clanmates."_

_Rainpaw looked into her eyes. "What?"_

"_Our time together here has been brief, Rainclaw," Stonewish's tail rested on Rainclaw's shoulder as she stared back at him. "I hope we will meet again. But before I go, I have one final thing to tell you."_

_Rainclaw's eyes widened even more. He felt as if he would explode with anticipation and confusion._

"_Beware the fallen petals." Stonewish meowed, and she disappeared._

—

Rainclaw blinked and scrambled to his paws. "Great StarClan!" He exclaimed. Had he just received a prophecy?

Rainclaw turned and saw Petalbright, Birchheart, and Featherfire padding into the camp, each with a single catch in their jaws.

Rainclaw padded up to the three. "It's good that the prey in the forest is plentiful." He said, having to stop his voice form shaking. Petalbright nodded.

"Featherfire swears up and down that he saw about four cats in the forest earlier." Petalbright said. "Must be another group, I guess. If we see them again, maybe we can persuade them into joining…"

"Yeah. Uh, Petalbright? Can I talk to you?" Rainclaw swallowed nervously. "In private?" He added.

Petalbright looked over at Birchheart and Featherfire, mouthed something, then nodded again. "Sure." She meowed.

They padded to of the camp, and a few fox-lengths away from the camp entrance, Rainclaw turned to Petalbright. "I think I received a prophecy."

"A what?" Petalbright blinked. "A prophecy? What did it say? Who told it to you?"

"It was my mother, Stonewish, who told me. I thought she would have stayed around the lake, but it looks like she followed us." Rainclaw took a deep breath. "She said, _'Beware the fallen petals'._"

There was a flash of alarm in Petalbright's eyes, but it quickly vanished. "Who do you think it's about? Or what it's about?" She questioned, the fur on her spine bristling.

"I just got it. I wanted to tell someone as soon as I woke up, so I didn't get to really think about it." Rainclaw confessed, fidgeting uncomfortably. "Stonewish didn't really say anything about the prophecy. It was right at the end of my dream. She was talking about how she missed me, and how our time together wouldn't last long. And all of a sudden, she was talking about petals!"

"Maybe it's about Lilykit," Petalbright mused, "after all, she is named after a flower, and flowers have petals. We don't know her full backstory, and might be hiding some secrets from us. That would be why you would have to beware her."

"Stonewish was pretty straightforward when she was alive. She wouldn't give out a prophecy about petals if it was about a kit named after a flower. She would have given a prophecy about flowers, or, if it's actually about Lilykit, about lilies." Rainclaw looked up into Petalbright's green eyes. "You have the prefix Petal. What if it's about you?"

"It's not about me!" Petalbright cried. "I would never betray you, and even if I did, it would be to protect you!" With a whimper, se curled up and buried her face in her paws.

Rainclaw blinked in bewilderment. "I didn't mean for it to sound like I was accusing you." He added hastily. "I'm sorry. Maybe it really is about Lilykit."

Petalbright got to her paws and shook the dirt out of her fur. "Sorry, I just don't want you to end up thinking I'm some bad guy." She murmured, looking at her paws in embarrassment.

"I won't ever think you're a bad guy." Rainclaw purred and rubbed his head against Petalbright's. "You'll always be my friend, no matter what you do."

Petalbright purred in turn, then said, "We should go back to camp… Everyone's going to think Ragged kidnapped us, too!"

Rainclaw knew Petalbright had meant for that to be a joke, but the mention of Ragged made Rainclaw's heart sink. "Yeah," he muttered, and padded past Petalbright and into the camp.

Petalbright followed solemnly, and padded away, towards the warriors' den she had made the day prior as Sweet padded forward to greet Rainclaw.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Sweet meowed, "but I think my kits are ready to become apprentices. They're only five moons, but they're as big as strong and any six-moon-old cat. Would you mind doing another ceremony?"

Rainclaw hesitated. Apprenticing the kits early would be breaking the code, but the Clan needed more warriors to defend the Clan if Ragged decided to come back and snatch someone else. The thought of Ragged made Rainclaw's fur bristle; he had hoped that when they had started a Clan, it would become a peaceful safe haven.

That all seemed to be impossible now. Prophecies, unknown cats in the forest, the list could go on forever.

"Sure, I'll apprentice them." Rainclaw responded, then turned and walked through the stream, not bothering to jump over it, and leave onto the Clanrock. "May all cats old enough to hunt gather around for a Clan meeting."

Birchheart and Featherfire padded up from outside the warriors' den, and Sweet's kits bounded up, knowing exactly what was going on.

"Today, we'll be getting a few apprentices." Rainclaw paused, wondering if that was what the Clan leaders usually said. "Err… Bravekit. Step forward."

Bravekit bounced forward, nearly crashing into the Clanrock but stopping himself before he did. He raised his head and grinned at Rainclaw, his tail held up high.

"Bravekit, you have reached the age of- five moons… But you're becoming an apprentice anyways. You shall known be known as Bravepaw, and you will be apprenticed to me." Rainclaw fidgeted nervously, yet nobody seemed to notice at all. Rainclaw bent down to touch noses with Bravepaw.

"Lilykit, step forward." Rainclaw called after Bravepaw ran off. "You will be now known as Lilypaw. Your mentor will be Birchheart." Rainclaw glanced at the tom. "Birchheart, I trust you will train Lilypaw well."

"I will." Birchheart meowed happily, and touched noses with Lilypaw.

"Atlanta, do you want to keep your name still?" Rainclaw squinted at the light brown tabby-and-white she-kit, who nodded a little hesitantly. "Alright. Atlanta, you wish to follow the path of a medicine cat, and you will be temporarily apprenticed to me, so I can teach you the herbs I know."

Atlanta smiled, her eyes shining in joy. Rainclaw and she touched noses momentarily, then Atlanta broke away to go over to her littermates.

"Clan dismissed." Rainclaw said, and leaped off of the Clanrock. He cast a short glance at Sweet, and frowned to himself. Sweet's eyes held two different emotions; happiness for her kits becoming apprentices, and sadness for the loss of Ivykit.

_At least she has a reason to not get over it. _Rainclaw thought sadly. He sighed and was about to pad out of camp when Bravepaw and Atlanta ran up. "When will we start training?" They asked in unison.

Rainclaw blinked. "Err, Bravepaw, warrior apprentices get a day of rest before starting their training. Atlanta, I guess we could start training today."

Atlanta smiled, then turned to Bravepaw. "Sorry you have to wait," she mewed, "at least you can get a good night's sleep."

"Yeah, no matter how excited I'll get, I'll always be tired. Wait, do we have an apprentice's den yet?" Bravepaw turned his eyes to Rainclaw, who shook his head. "No, not yet. You can stay in the nursery for now, and we'll make an apprentices' den tomorrow."

"Okay!" Bravepaw squeaked, and skipped off joyfully, his til flicking to and fro. Rainclaw turned to Atlanta. "Come on, if you want to learn herbs, you'll have to find some first."

The two padded out of the camp, completely silent. A bluebird chirped overhead, perched on a thin branch, looking down at the cats as they passed.

With a flick of his ears, Rainclaw began to speak. "One of the most simple herbs is dock," he meowed, "you chew it up into a poultice and put it on minor scratches to heal it up. Marigold is used to stop bleeding and infection, similar tp cobwebs. Except, cobwebs just stop bleeding, and not infection…"

"Where'd you say you learned this?" Atlanta tipped her head to the side. Rainclaw snorted. "I thought I've mentioned it enough for you to remember it!" He rolled his eyes, somewhat jokingly. "I broke a paw as an apprentice, and I ended up hanging around in the medicine cats' den while I was waiting for it to heal."

"Huh," responded Atlanta. "What do the herbs look like? Dock and marigold?"

Rainclaw screwed up his face, trying hard to remember. He had been trying so greatly to remember the use of every herb, he had nearly forgotten what they looked like!

"Marigold is a low-growing blue- no, gold flower. And dock, it's, uh, it has big leaves, and pretty common. It blends into the other shrubs and ferns pretty well, so looking for it by it's scent is the best-working way to find it, I guess," Rainclaw paused. "It has a tangy smell."

"Got it." Atlanta barreled forward, out-running Rainclaw and disappearing into the undergrowth.

Rainclaw's eyes widened in alarm. "Atlanta! You can't run off! What if Ragged…" He trailed off as he realized that the apprentice must be too far away to hear him. With a sigh, he gave his chest a few licks then darted into Atlanta's direction.

Rainclaw came to a sandy clearing, where Atlanta sat plucking the leaves off of a large, leafy plant. "I got the dock," she said, "but i couldn't find nay marigold. You were right, this dock is everywhere!"

"It's good you managed to find dock already," Rainclaw said. "and don't be upset if we don't find any marigold. It might just not grow in this forest."

Atlanta sat up, a bundle of dock leaves in her jaws. "I noticed there's a hole nearby." She said, her voice muffled by the dock leaves. A few fell away from the bundle and she hurried to pick them up off of the sandy ground.

"A hole?" Rainclaw echoed, giving the surrounding forest a quick glanced. "Maybe it was just some badger or fox den."

"It was a really big hole. A No-fur could fit into it!" Atlanta got to her paws. "I can show you it, if you want!"

"Please do," Rainclaw said.

Atlanta disappeared into a nearby bush with the sick of her tail, and Rainclaw hesitantly padded after her. After about the heartbeats of walking, they came to a large hole in the ground. Bushes and shrubs surrounded the hole, hiding it from sight, and the hole led downwards, like a tunnel instead of a pit. Rainclaw peered into the hole for a moment, then turned to Atlanta.

"You can stay here, or head back to camp," he said to his apprentice, "I'm going in for a while. Just to see where it leads."

Atlanta stared at Rainclaw for a long moment, then nodded silently, spinning around and trotting away with her dock bundles in her mouth. Rainclaw turned and stepped into the hole, pausing for a moment as a breeze _somehow_ came out of the tunnel. Rainpaw blinked. _How is that even possible?_

Rainclaw continued the descent down into the tunnel, and he was quickly enveloped with darkness. He wandered blindly, feeling along the walls of the tunnel. The walls of the tunnel was rocky and lined with jagged stones, while the ground was soft and sandy. Rainclaw guessed that the tunnel had been an underground river long ago, and kept on walking.

Thankfully, the tunnel was a lone one, with no smaller tunnels breaking off of it and no forks in the path. Soon enough, Rainclaw came to a large, granite cavern.

_Whoa. _Rainclaw could see a small hole in the ceiling of the cavern, allowing sunlight to come in and illuminate a strange-shaped pool in the middle of the cavern. After a moment of squinting, Rainclaw realized that the pool was shaped like a misshapen star.

Rainclaw padded to the edge of the pool. He stared into it, half expecting to see that moon and the stars, but saw nothing but his own reflection.

_Of course I won't see the stars or the moon. _Rainclaw told himself. _If this cavern was really made by StarClan, then it has to be night for it to do anything._

And so, Rainclaw waited. He waited as the sun reached the top of the sky, then begin its descent down below the horizon, followed by the moon. Rainclaw was half asleep by the time night came, and was awoken by a flash of light from the pool.

The pool seemed to be glowing, the light of the moon and few stars turning the dark water a shimmering silver. Rainclaw inched forward, staring into the pool in awe.

_Leaders go to the Moonpool to get their extra eight lives. Since I'm leader, I'll have to get my extra lives, too. _Rainclaw lowered his head until his face was less than a mouse-tail's length from the water. _But, doesn't there have to be a medicine cat present? To make sure the leader gets their lives without any problems?_

"Rainclaw!" A voice called form the tunnel, and Rainclaw turned to see a figure approach him. The faint herb smell helped Rainclaw easily tell who had approached him.

"I couldn't just let you explore a cave all by yourself," Atlanta said, "there could have been big blood-sucking bats or giant spiders that spin you into cobweb cocoons and have you for dinner!"

"There's none of that in here. The only life here is us, and the grass and moss growing around this pool." Rainclaw waved a paw at the star-shaped pool. "I think this pool is supposed to be a sacred place, like the Moonstone and Moonpool I told you about. See how the moonlight comes right in through that hole in the ceiling, and shines directly on the pool, but nowhere else?"

"Wow," Atlanta gasped.

"It's a good thing you came here. Leaders get their lives at these sacred places, but they need a medicine cat to accompany them for some reason I don't remember." Rainclaw meowed, continuing to stare into the pool instead of looking at Atlanta.

"Petalbright told me the reason of that! She said that, uh, it's a way so the medicine cat can, uh, make sure it all goes smoothly and what not." Atlanta said. "Ooh, I came up with a good name for this. Starpond! Does that sound good?"

"It sounds fine." Rainclaw said. "So, I'm going to try and see if I can make the leadership ceremony start. So, at the lake, leaders would drink form the Moonpool and fall asleep, and when they wake up, they would be in StarClan, and cats that were important in their lives and cats that were important in the Clan's history give them their extra eight lives. The medicine cat just kind of sits in the corner, watchin the ceremony. At least, that's what I've been told."

"Alright, I'll just sit over here. You take a drink and what not. It probably tastes good." Atlanta backed away, sitting down in front of the entrance of the granite cavern and watching Rainclaw expectantly.

Rainclaw laid down, adjusting himself so he laid more comfortably on the rock. He sniffed the water for a moment, then lapped up a bit. At first, he didn't feel anything different, so he just set his head down on his paws and closed his eyes. And then, he felt… Nothing. It was like he didn't have a body at all, like he was just a conscious floating in a void of emptiness. The feeling only lasted for a few heartbeats, and then Rainclaw felt like he had a body again. He opened his eyes to see Fourtrees.

Rainclaw had been told that the Fourtrees was the Gathering Place in the old forest territory, until it was torn down by Twolegs to make the Thunderpath bigger. Rainclaw guessed that it had just stayed in StarClan, even if its real-life counterpart was destroyed.

"It's still here because of the amount of cats remembering it." A voice meowed. An old pinkish-gray she-cat was sitting by the Greek Rock in the middle of Fourtrees, staring warmly at Rainclaw. Rainclaw felt his heart stop at the sight of the old she-cat.

"Heatherpoppy!" He cried, and raced up to the she-cat and nuzzled her. Heatherpoppy purred. "It's good to see you again, young one."

"Am I here to gain my lives?" Rainclaw asked taking a step back. "I had no idea that it would actually work."

"Yes. The 'Starpond' is really the sacred place of your territory." Heatherpoppy said. "You are the true leader your Clan now, and you need your lives." She turned and waved her tail towards some bushes, and eight cats strolled out. At the sight of a few of them, Rainclaw's eyes began to water.

A small gray she-kit bounded up, staring up at him with wide blue eyes. "Hi, big brother!" She squeaked. Rainclaw smiled. "Hi, Fogkit." He nearly cried at the sight of his sister, whom had died as a kit thanks to a small breakout of greencough. He hardly thought about her, but seeing her now brought tears to his eyes.

Heatherpoppy leaned over. "You have to lay down, so she can put her nose to your head." She whispered. Rainclaw listened almost instantly, crouching down so his sister could tour the top of his head with her tiny black nose.

"With this life, I give you faith! Everyone should be able to trust that everyone close to them can help!" Fogkit squeaked. Rainclaw suddenly felt weak, and he found it hard to breath. The feeling disappeared as soon as Fogkit padded away.

_That musty've been what she felt when she died. _Rainclaw thought as a dark gray tabby tom padded forward. The tom nodded to him. "I apologize for leaving you so soon, son." The tom meowed.

Rainclaw gave his father a small smile. His father, named Stormfoot, had been injured in a border skirmish and died in the medicine cats' den when Rainclaw was only a young apprentice.

Stormfoot put his nose to Rainclaw's head. "With this life, son, I give you wisdom. Use your knowledge wisely, and your Clan will pull through."

There was pain, once again, but it was less peaceful than Fogkit's. It was a burning, ongoing pain, which once again disappeared after Stormfoot padded away.

Stonewish came forward. She purred. "Maybe I was lying a bit when I said our time was brief earlier. It's the same day, and here we are, talking to each other again. Eh, how am I supposed to know when certain things are happening?" Stonewish paused for a moment, then announced, "With this life, I'm giving you a life of… Uh… didn't think about this. Hmmm… Resilience. A life of resilience."

There was no pain this time, just a terrible, terrible cold, cold enough to freeze a cat as they slept.

Stonewish was followed by Hazelfeather, Rainclaw's mentor, who have him the life go understanding. Squirrelpelt and Dogpaw, friends from Rainclaw's youth, gave him the life of tireless energy and hope. Petalbright's mother, Twigstripe, came forward and gave him the life of second chances; to have faith in cats even if they had done wrong in the past.

Second-to-last, a pure black she-cat with forest-green eyes padded up to Rainclaw, and Rainclaw realized the she-cat was transparent, she there were hardly any stars in her pelt. The she-cat blinked at him fr a moment. "These stars in my pelt represent the cats that remember me," she rasped. "My name is Shadowstar. I was the first leader of ShadowClan. I have come far to give you a life. Although you are not becoming a ShadowClan leader, it was the place you were birthed form, and I believe it is right for me to give you a life."

Shadowstar pressed a see-through nose to Rainclaw's forehead. "I give you the life of honoring the warrior code. You seem to follow it wrongly, and you hope to pass it on through the generations, and this life will surely help you with that."

Heatherpoppy came last. "I have seen you grow form kit to warrior, Rainclaw," the old medicine cat said, "and here you are, becoming the leader of a Clan you managed to create in less than a moon! And so, I give you the life of healing, either it be mentally or physically. Now, I have one last question for you, Rainclaw, before you receive your leader name. What is the name of your Clan?"

Rainclaw's answer was almost immediate. "GuardianClan," he said, "after the first cat that wanted to join, and because one day it will become a safe haven for all cats."

"So be it. Welcome, Rainstar, leader of GuardianClan. May you lead your Clan for many seasons." Heatherpoppy took a step back and fell silent, allowing the other cats to cheer the new name.

"Rainstar! Rainstar! Rainstar!"

—

**Thanks to everyone for reviewing!**

**Any questions will be answered by the story itself.**

**Please point out any mistakes, as I'm terrible at finding any mistakes I've written.**


	5. Chapter 5

When Rainstar opened his eyes, the Starpond no longer glowed silver with the moonlight, but golden with the sunlight. He got to his paws and gave himself a quick shake, sending bits of dust flying. Rainstar sat down and stared not the pool.

"I'm a leader now," he murmured, staring at his reflection. He didn't look any different, but Rainstar knew that something had indeed changed; he had nine lives instead of one now.

"Rainclaw? Did it work? Are you a leader now?" Atlanta padded up to Rainstar, her eyes wide and questioning. He paused for a moment, then gave Atlanta a small nod. "It worked," he meowed, "I'm Rainstar now."

"Wow," Atlanta breathed. "That's… Awesome. But, uh, as you can see, It's sunhigh now, so we should probably head back?"

"Sunhigh?" Rainstar blinked. "I've been sleeping for that long?"

"Sleeping? Uh, yeah, I guess. You weren't really, uh, sleeping, though, because you weren't breathing? It spooked me, but I guess it was just part of the getting-nine-lives ceremony thing." Atlanta turned and shuffled towards the entrance of the cavern. Once she reached it, she looked over her shoulder at Rainstar, who hadn't moved an inch, and narrowed her eyes. "Are you coming or not?"

Rainstar blinked a few times. "Uh, yeah, I'm coming." He hurried after Atlanta, and the two made their way through the winding tunnel and back to the surface.

It was raining hard on the surface, and Rainstar wondered how none of the rain had come through the hole in the cavern, Soon enough, both Atlanta and Rainstar were drenched in rainwater. Rainstar sighed.

"Our scent trails were washed away," he meowed, "we'll have to just wander around until we get back to camp."

"I know the way back," Atlanta said, and turned to him, her eyes bright, "when you went inside the cavern, I went back to camp and put the herbs under a ledge on the Clanrock, because I didn't know where else to put them."

"So, you know the way back?" Rainstar looked his paws, somewhat embarrassed. An apprentice knew the territory better than he did!

"Yeo! We just go back to that sandy clearing, walk straight until we pass a big birch tree, and then turn left and walk that way until we get to the camp." Atlanta traveled forward a tail-length, then turned back to him. "It's that easy. Now, are you going to stand here like a deer in headlights, or are you gonna follow me? I try to be nice, and all you do is sit and stare at me. Come on!"

"What are headlights?" Rainstar murmured, and he padded after Atlanta, who didn't seem to hear him at all. When the duo came to the sandy clearing from before, the rain finally began to loosen up a little, and Atlanta decided to start talking again.

"Petalbright is kind of weird, y'know?" Atlanta said, not looking at Rainstar at all. "She's way too dramatic, and I bet those 'mood-swings' are just a way for her to do some things that could get her in trouble and get away with it. Seriously, what is up with her?"

Rainstar was taken aback by the apprentice's words. He didn't speak to Atlanta often before she became his apprentice, but he was pretty sure she didn't bad-mouth anybody until now. "Petalbright's not weird," Rainstar stated, determined to change Atlanta's thoughts on his friend. "She's had those mood-swings from when she was a kit! It's just…. Uhhh… Her emotions get really heightened and what not. What made you think that way about her?"

"The other day, she was bringing Sweet some prey, but then when Sweet tried to thank her for it, Petalbright got all bitter and snapped at her, saying that 'she didn't catch it and didn't need to be thanked for it' and some other fox-dung. Since Sweet is so nice, she paid no attention to this, and tried to start a conversation with Petalbright. Then, Petalbright suddenly got all happy and what not, and kept asking her about random stuff." Atlanta made a face. "Petalbright acted like she hadn't even done anything to Sweet!"

"She's a bit forgetful, too. I'm not sure if it's part of something, or her forgetfulness is something else, or…" Rainstar was cut off by Atlanta. "So, she's forgetful, has mood swings, and over-reacts because she 'can't help it'? What a load of fox-dung." Atlanta snorted.

Rainstar glared at the apprentice. "Why are you complaining about her mood-swings, when you were all nice and fine a minuet ago, and now you're hear bad-mouthing some random cat? Just, just, whenever you have any negative thoughts on anyone, just keep it to yourself." He honestly felt like a scolding parent, but he couldn't help it. He and Petalbright had been friends since they were kits; the warriors had even said that they were inseparable.

Atlanta let out a low growl, and fell silent. Soon, they passed the birch tree, but instead of turning left like she had said, Atlanta turned right, leading Rainstar in the complete opposite direction.

Rainstar narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Hey, Atlanta? Didn't you say that we had to turn left?" He looked over his shoulder, and hone he looked back, Atlanta seemed to have disappeared.

"Atlanta!" Rainstar called. "If this is some rude prank, you're going to get punished! This is no way to treat your mentor, or your leader!" He let out a low sigh. "Standing up for your friend can upset some cats, I guess."

Time passed, and Rainstar waited, silently hoping that Atlanta would come back for him; or, at least, someone else. As it grew dark, the shadows lengthened and the forest plunged into darkness. Rainstar growled to himself as he attempted to get his eyes to adjust to the dark shadows. Even though he had been born a ShadowClan cat, Rainstar had never liked the dark, and felt more comfortable treading on leaves than pine needles.

Strange.

Rainstar pricked his ears for a moment, then growled again and lowered them. "I thought I heard something," he muttered, glancing around with slight unease.

Then there it was, a slight rustle, not too nearby, and the noises of crunching dead leaves as about three- no, four- cats made their way through the forest. Rainstar's eyes widened and he immediately darted in the direction of the sounds, hoping the cats he found would be nice enough to help him.

Soon enough, he found the cats he heard of, by crashing right into one of them. Rainstar stumbled backwards and shook his head, trying to hastily recover form the crash. The cat he had crashed into, a huge golden-brown tabby tom, didn't seem fazed and didn't seem ti have moved at all. The tom just glared down at Rainstar for a long moment., then lowered his head and snarled in Rainstar's face.

"What do ya think you're doing?" The tom growled. Rainstar blinked and opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by another tom, a sleek dark tabby behind the golden-brown tabby. "There's no need to be aggressive, brother," the dark tabby meowed, "he just seems to be lost. And attacking him won't solve any problems, would it?"

The golden-brown tabby's eyes flitted to the dark tabby for a moment, then he let out a growl and took a step back. The dark tabby padded forward and gave Rainstar a small smile. "Greetings. My name is Loki. Forgive my brother for how he acts. He isn't very used meeting cats other than the ones he was born alongside." Loki flicked a tail towards the other three. "Allow me to introduce them. The one who attacked you is Thor. The small black one with the white spots is Yin, and the last one Yang. We won't mind if you say our names are strange; it's all anyone says to us nowadays."

"I don't think you names are strange. Why would I?" Rainstar looked at his paws. "Um, well, sorry to bother you, but I'm kind of lost."

"Lost? I thought so. Where do you live?" Yin pushed herself forward, shoving Loki away so she could get a good look at Rainstar. Rainstar blinked. "It's a big camp, surrounded by bushes and brambles. There's other cats there, too, so if you think you saw nay of them…"

"Yes, yes, a camp. Cats. A tortoiseshell? Is there a tortoiseshell?" Yin narrowed her eyes. Rainstar nodded. "Yeah, there's a tortoiseshell there. Her name is Petalbright."

"Alright, alright. Big camp. Many cats. Big camp. Many cats." Yin turned and walked into the undergrowth with a flick of her tail. Loki sighed. "Best go after her. She's trying to lead the way, anyways, she just never says it."

Rainstar nodded and bounded through the forest, following the scent trail of the she-cat. She was surprisingly fast, and it took a while for him to catch up to her, and by the time they did, they were there.

"Here it is, the big camp with many cats. Good time seeing you, we'll be going now." Yin turned and briskly walked away once again. Yang padded water her, followed by Thor, leaving Rainstar and Loki by themselves.

"None of them are very fond of cats other than their littermates." Loki said. He dipped his head to Rainstar. "It was nice seeing you. Good-bye." With that, Loki also left.

Rainstar stared at the forest for a moment after Loki left. He looked as if he was really deep in thought, when he actually was coming up with ways to punish Atlanta.

—

**This chapter was shorter than the last one. Kind of just a filler chapter.**

**Bad, bad, Atlanta.**

**I have a feeling that I should make literally everyone look like the antagonist, and then reveal that just one of them is.**


End file.
